Missing You Already (A Gravity Falls One Shot)

Missing You Already

This is for a contest run by EZ-Dayz and WattyFallers
I made this collage and it took me about 2 hours, way longer than it should've, I know 😝😝

***

A young boy called Dipper stood silently in his bedroom, the sun streaming through his curtains, as bright as he aspired to be. He gazed thoughtfully at his bed, still buried underneath piles of books, just like he left it. Everything was just how it was before he went to Gravity Falls, but it felt like a strangers room to him. No, his room was in the dingy attic of a sleazy tourist trap, next to his sister.

His sister, Mabel, was busy 'unpacking' next door, but he knew she would just be laying on her bed, texting Candy and Grenda, just as she was on the bus journey home. It was a wonder there was still stuff to talk about. Then again, Mabel was always the kind of person that knew exactly what to say.

Kneeling beside his dirt-covered backpack, Dipper removed a single item as the splintery wood pierced his lower legs, leaving scars that he used to care about. After the events of the summer, a couple of scratches would be the last thing on his mind. Because he had too much on his mind then, as his eyes drifted to the item his fingertips clung upon.

The photo was stained, torn and faded because he looked at it so often, and touched it with his sweaty palms too frequently. He smiled softly as he looked at it then, for the hundredth time, still not tired of the same old sight. It showed him, Mabel, Stan and Soos fishing during their first week in Gravity Falls, goofy grins plastered on each of their faces, back in the days when they were innocent. He stroked the image fondly before placing it on his desk, wishing he could relive that moment in the picture. Relive that summer.

"Dip!" Mabel yelled through the thin wall that separated them. "Come here!"

"Why?" Dipper questioned as he tried to fold his clothes, eventually giving up, deserting them in a scruffy heap on the floor.

"Just come, okay?"

"Fine," he groaned, twisting the brass doorknob that sent a shiver down his spine and entering his sisters bedroom.

As soon as he walked in, he was greeted by a warm embrace that made him want to cry. He knew what it meant when Mabel held him like this. Her sweater damp with salty tears, he could hear her sobbing on his shoulder. The wool itched against his body but, for some reason, it felt good, reassuring. Dipper ran his fingers through her long, chestnut hair comfortingly, calming her down.

"I miss it, Dipper," Mabel whimpered, her voice wavering, her eyes made of glass that was about to shatter. "Gravity Falls. I miss everything about it, even the little things that don't really matter... I... I want to go back, Dip..."

"Me too, Mabel," Dipper held her tightly, his arms gripping onto her as if he were holding on for his life. And, in a way, he was. She was his life in that moment, and he promised himself that he wouldn't ever let her go. "Me too."

He couldn't bear to leave her alone, not then, so they perched on the side of her bed, flicking through the scrapbook that showcased the best few months of their lives. Mabel laughed halfheartedly at the photos, not with her usual perkiness that Dipper needed so much. Especially then, at the time he had nothing except for her, and if he couldn't rely on her, who?

Hours passed, and not one of them was spent thinking of something other than the town they left behind. Their parents scolded Dipper for not unpacking, and ordered him away to finish. He couldn't protest against their harsh faces of stone, thus, he reluctantly drifted back to unload the remainders of his suitcase.

But he couldn't do it. He couldn't unpack, leaving the world he had found in the past. He had to go back there, maybe just for a day, just to see his friends one last time. Maybe forever. Maybe he could go back with Mabel to discover a whole new mystery to unravel. Their parents said they'd be going back next summer, but Dipper couldn't wait until next year, and he knew Mabel couldn't either.

"Hey, Mabel," he whispered through a little hole in the poorly plastered wall.

"What?" She sniffed, holding back the tears, trying to be brave for her brother. But they both knew her tears were a tsunami, and, however hard she tried, she couldn't stop it from bursting through her fragile heart. And, when her heart broke, so did his.

"You wanna go back to Gravity Falls? Um... now?"

He couldn't see her face, but he knew she was smiling, and that was the only response he needed. Of course she would be smiling, for, that night, they would catch the first bus back to Gravity Falls. bus back to Gravity Falls.